republic-os/legal/us/code/title-42/chapter-149/section-16298c.md

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LegalText	42 U.S.C. § 16298c	National Energy Technology Laboratory reforms	us	united_states_code	code_section	42	THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE	149	NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY AND PROGRAMS	16298c	42 U.S.C. § 16298c	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc42@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t42/s16298c	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-42/usc42.xml	0a7c01ed0cc869fdfc6c947435c687f43660c67d79920da2a73831929ff304e9	644321055a08eb1f260a6a3e31ac157fa024756abf612a9fd6857e7e400cf24e	9aa7b84db3f2936270343187ce7025d7a76cce5a0fd1431fce469caac55c02b6	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

42 U.S.C. § 16298c - National Energy Technology Laboratory reforms

Text

(a) Special hiring authority for scientific, engineering, and project management personnel (1) In general The Director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (referred to in this section as the “Director”) may—

(A) make appointments to positions in the National Energy Technology Laboratory to assist in meeting a specific project or research need, without regard to civil service laws, of individuals who—

(i) have an advanced scientific or engineering background; or

(ii) have a business background and can assist in specific technology-to-market needs;

(B) fix the basic pay of any employee appointed under subparagraph (A) at a rate not to exceed level II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5; and

(C) pay any employee appointed under subparagraph (A) payments in addition to the basic pay fixed under subparagraph (B), subject to the condition that the total amount of additional payments paid to an employee under this subparagraph for any 12-month period shall not exceed the least of—

(i) $25,000;

(ii) the amount equal to 25 percent of the annual rate of basic pay of that employee; and

(iii) the amount of the limitation that is applicable for a calendar year under section 5307(a)(1) of title 5.

(2) Limitations (A) In general The term of any employee appointed under paragraph (1)(A) shall not exceed 3 years.

(B) Full-time employees Not more than 10 full-time employees appointed under paragraph (1)(A) may be employed at the National Energy Technology Laboratory at any given time.

(b) Laboratory-directed research and development (1) In general Beginning in fiscal year 2021, the National Energy Technology Laboratory shall be eligible for laboratory-directed research and development funding.

(2) Authorization of funding (A) In general Each fiscal year, of funds made available to the National Energy Technology Laboratory, the Secretary may deposit an amount, not to exceed the rate made available to the National Laboratories for laboratory-directed research and development, in a special fund account.

(B) Use Amounts in the account under subparagraph (A) shall only be available for laboratory-directed research and development.

(C) Requirements The account under subparagraph (A)—

(i) shall be administered by the Secretary;

(ii) shall be available without fiscal year limitation; and

(iii) shall not be subject to appropriation.

(3) Requirement The Director shall carry out laboratory-directed research and development activities at the National Energy Technology Laboratory consistent with Department of Energy Order 413.2C, dated August 2, 2018 (or a successor order).

(4) Annual report on use of authority Annually, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report on the use of the authority provided under this subsection during the preceding fiscal year.

(c) Laboratory operations The Secretary shall delegate human resources operations of the National Energy Technology Laboratory to the Director to assist in carrying out this section.

(d) Review Not later than 2 years after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report assessing the management and research activities of the National Energy Technology Laboratory, which shall include—

(1) an assessment of the quality of science and research at the National Energy Technology Laboratory, relative to similar work at other National Laboratories;

(2) a review of the effectiveness of authorities provided in subsections (a) and (b); and

(3) recommendations for policy changes within the Department and legislative changes to provide the National Energy Technology Laboratory with the necessary tools and resources to advance the research mission of the National Energy Technology Laboratory.

(Pub. L. 109–58, title IX, § 969C, as added Pub. L. 116–260, div. Z, title IV, § 4006(a), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2544.)